Good news for school leavers: there is no perfect path

Joe Wehbe is on a mission to empower school leavers to define their own journey, independent of the usual pressures.

Joe Wehbe, co-author of 18 & Lost? So Were We, which offers personal stories of how nine young people have navigated the post-school years. Picture: Jane Dempster

When Joe Wehbe talks about his transition from school to university, it is clear why he is convinced there has to be a better way. That conviction has manifested itself in a new book full of school-leaver experiences he has co-written called 18 & Lost? So Were We.

As a high achiever with an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of over 99, Wehbe scored entry to the University of Sydney and was heading for an honours degree in psychology.

Except that university was a lacklustre experience, and after slogging through three years and initially being accepted into honours for the following year he later was told he needed one more subject to qualify.

“So many people struggle with that journey after high school,” he says. “It was just a learning format that I didn’t really thrive in; I felt like I was doing the HSC every six months. I also failed to make the most out of that experience, so it was very lukewarm – like a six out of 10 experience.”

It was 2016, the year after the Nepal earthquake, so he worked with a friend in a not-for-profit start-up to help rebuilding in the village of Ghumarchowk, not far from Kathmandu, travelling back and forth to Australia. “It changed me,” he says. “I got a whole new perspective on life and what I was capable of doing. I discovered entrepreneurship.”

Wehbe returned to Sydney, decided against resuming the degree and set up a real estate business that he ran for a couple of years before the pandemic hit. He scaled it back but retains a sideline in property management that funds the pursuit of his interest in education.

Now 26, he is keen to pull together people who are embarking on post-school education, many of whose lives have been disrupted by lockdowns: learning remotely in social isolation and with no certainty that a vibrant campus life awaits when the next academic year begins.

Added to that are the usual difficulties. “There’s that sense that you have to go very narrow with a career decision very quickly, with virtually no data and no reliable guide to make that decision,” Wehbe says.

“You’ve got anecdotes from people around you, but anecdotes don’t necessarily correlate to your own experience.”

The new book offers the personal stories of how nine young people have navigated the post-school years. They include his story and one from his partner in the book project, Scott McKeon, who coped well with university.

“The takeaway from Scott’s story is that ‘if you go to university, this is probably how you should go about it’.” Wehbe says.

“He built in work experience really early, so he got to see what the career path he was heading towards was like. That fast-tracked his professional development, which fast-tracked other opportunities he got access to.

“Opportunities compound – once you start getting involved, you gain more confidence, and because you’re more confident you become involved in more things.”

The pair also has co-founded The Constant Student Community website, intended to offer a next step to those who read the book and want to explore further options by defining and developing their skills and building networks with each other.

“Constant students are not pursuing titles, credentials, or certificates,” a statement on the project’s website declares. “They pursue journeys.” A $200 fee allows access to Zoom calls, creative group projects and the chance to learn skills to monetise online.

Wehbe calls it a “full education ecosystem”.

So far there are 45 members locally and abroad, including from Africa, South America and parts of Asia, but there is capacity to manage up to 100 at a time.

The book has attracted the interest of Western Sydney University chancellor and Review of Senior Secondary Pathways report lead author Peter Shergold, who says “young people taking control themselves of how to study and how to plan for the future and in effect, looking for peer support – which is what the book is about – is very good because it helps to build self-reliance”.

“It also gives them people to talk to about experiences and to realise that their experience of not quite knowing what to do with the future is common, not uncommon.” Shergold says.